The end of the desktop is near, according to reports trickling out over the last few days.

Changes in the way Intel connects its processors to the circuit board may signal broad changes to the desktop PC as we know it today.

Desktop processors are attached to the PC’s main circuit board (aka motherboard) via asocket. Intel processors compatible with that socket are then inserted by the end user, be it an enthusiast or PC supplier.

Mobile processors, on the other hand, are soldered directly to the circuit board. Soldering the processor has design advantages in the space-sensitive mobile world where every millimeter counts.

But it’s an anathema to the desktop crowd: soldering processors to a desktop board would kill the enthusiast market, where DIY gamers, for instance, like to select from a range of processors to suit their needs.

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If indeed this is what Intel is planning. Semiaccurate claims this will happen when Intel’s Broadwell chip rolls around in 2014 but qualifies this by saying that it “suspects that this decision has not been made” yet. And then goes on to say that Intel will “bring back” the socket with a chip design after Broadwell called Skylake.

A Japanese-language report seems to imply this change is in the works, though.

And that same report opines that this shift away from desktops to mobile reflects “a feeling of crisis” at Intel as power-efficient ARM processors — which power the world’s smartphones andtablets — eat into Intel chip sales.

Though Intel declined to comment, a source familiar with Intel’s plans said reports “have taken a lot of liberties” with the interpretation of the company’s future strategy.

Brooke CrothersBrooke Crothers writes about small devices and the hardware inside. He has served as editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times’ Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.